Antiques, Car Shows Keep The Town Alive

And in another three weeks, the Washington Redskins will join the list of people who have lived, played and left behind this history-filled borough of Carlisle (pop. 18,000).

Redskins' owner Jack Kent Cooke, in a decision heavily laced with political overtones, will end a 32-year association with Carlisle, and host Dickinson College, and move the team's training camp to Frostburg (Md.) State University next summer.

Cooke, who is attempting to build his new stadium in Laurel, Md., has elicited the support of influential Caspar Taylor, speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, in exchange for moving training camp to Taylor's home district, which includes Frostburg.

Next summer, when the Redskins' equipment trucks turn left for Frostburg instead of heading north for Dickinson College, the city that hosted the likes of coaches Vince Lombardi and George Allen, players Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer, and all the great Joe Gibbs' teams, will cease being a dateline in hundreds of newspapers around the country.

And, apparently, few of the residents will care.

The city has built no monuments to Pitcher and Thorpe, and there are no plans to build one for the departing Redskins.

Carlisle is, and will continue to be, an historic city with hundreds of antique shops and eight of the largest car shows in America.

``The Redskins' leaving has to affect some people in town I would think,'' said Barbara Warner, who operates the Antiques shop on beautiful Hanover Street, ``but I don't hear of anybody being upset. Carlisle is known for the Redskins in some circles, but it is antiques and car shows that brought Carlisle back to life.''

Karen Hurwitz, president of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce, isn't shedding any tears, either.

``The Redskins have had some impact on Carlisle,'' she said, ``but not a huge impact compared to other things in town. I'm sure the gas stations do well because of all the fans who drive up for a day and drive back. The Redskins have been nice, but not significant.''

According to Hurwitz, approximately 2,000 dealers attend each of the frequent antique shows, and each of the eight yearly car shows attract an average of 150,000 people per show.

Mike Helm, director of purchasing and auxiliary services at the private, prestigious and expensive Dickinson College, feels the same way.

``We don't get rich off the Redskins,'' said Helm, who is in charge of housing, feeding, providing practice fields and meeting rooms for the team.

Helm said Dickinson, which annually admits about 500 of 90,000 applicants and will charge $28,000 per student this year for room, board and tuition, is booked solid every year with summer conference groups.

``We're sorry to see the Redskins go, but from a cold point of view they are just one of our many summer conference groups,'' he said. ``We'll just have to find another summer group next year.''

There is, however, a group of fans here who feel they will be losing members of their family when the team leaves.

One is Bonnie Shank, who has visited the camp nearly every day for 18 years and has autographs of every player who passed through during that period.

``I'm going to miss them, their friendship and the excitement of having them in town,'' Shank said. ``This is going to hurt.''

Aug. 23, 1989, will be burned forever in Shank's memory. For several weeks that summer, the fast-food waitress talked about how she would love to fly to Chicago to see her sister.

Before an afternoon practice on Aug. 23, Gibbs summoned Shank to the middle of the field where she was suddenly surrounded by all the players.

``Coach Gibbs said the players had taken up a collection and he gave me $324 so I could buy an airline ticket to Chicago,'' she said. ``I'm never at a loss for words, but I was speechless that day. Coach Gibbs gave me a VCR tape of the ceremony. On days when I'm feeling a little down, I watch that tape.''

Lucy Freeman, supervisor of dining services at Dickinson, has memories born from running the Redskins' serving line for 18 years.

``These guys have been a part of my family for so long, they're like my boys,'' she said. ``They're always so nice, whether they are old players or new ones.

``My most favorite player of them all was Dave Butz. He would always stop and talk to us, and when camp ended he would do something for us. He would give the women corsages, and the men would get a case of beer. He was a sweetheart.''

Freeman also remembers the Redskins' head coaches during her tenure, some more than others:

* George Allen - ``We had to squeeze orange juice into a glass in front of him every morning. He also liked his chocolate ice cream and blueberries every day.''